I went to the Darkside - AKA, car tire on the bike
- Thread starter jphilipson
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jphilipson
Registered
Good thing I have thick skin 
- I'm taking a lot of 
And Poppy - Indeed. I have been reading about this for years, and have talked to many folks who have already gone to the darkside. I didn't just wake up one day and decide to do it. Also, yeah, you usually see it on heavier bikes, but my Busa setup for LD riding with my fat a$$ on it isn't exactly light. With my tailbag and aux fuel, and my 225 Lbs, I'm probably pushing over 800 Lbs.
- I'm taking a lot of And Poppy - Indeed. I have been reading about this for years, and have talked to many folks who have already gone to the darkside. I didn't just wake up one day and decide to do it. Also, yeah, you usually see it on heavier bikes, but my Busa setup for LD riding with my fat a$$ on it isn't exactly light
. With my tailbag and aux fuel, and my 225 Lbs, I'm probably pushing over 800 Lbs.
lil charlie
Registered
Let me start out by saying that I too have had a bike that was dark side. My 2002 Honda VTX 1800 had a CT on the back. It worked great for me with that heavy crusier. My problem was that southeastern Arizona only had long boring straight slabs and the side of my tires never got used. I completely understand what you are talking about when you say you need to lean into the turn a little harder than normal. I also found that you had to lean a tad sooner than normal too, as it took that CT a fraction of a second to react to what you were asking it to do.
I would take day trips to mount lemon in Tucson and everybody behind me was always shocked to see how that CT would roll and flex in the turns to keep the same amount of contact patch on the road. I was constantly leaning so much that I was dragging hard parts with that bike no problems at all. My Father has a dark side cruiser too. Here’s my reasoning on why I would never do it on a busa:
#1. Part of what makes that set up work so well is how heavy the cruiser is.
#2. The VTX is a shaft driven bike. With the Busa I would worry about the chain popping the tire if you make too big of a right hand turn.
When you make a left hand turn that tire rolls to the right and vice versa when you make right hand turns. The chain clearance would worry me to death the entire time I was riding causing me to not focus as much as I should be on other aspects of riding suck as cagers and my body position. I will be checking up on this thread from time to time to see how you like it for this bike but I am inclined to agree with everyone else that this not the best decision for this type of bike. I hope you can prove me wrong on that. Good luck buddy!!!
I would take day trips to mount lemon in Tucson and everybody behind me was always shocked to see how that CT would roll and flex in the turns to keep the same amount of contact patch on the road. I was constantly leaning so much that I was dragging hard parts with that bike no problems at all. My Father has a dark side cruiser too. Here’s my reasoning on why I would never do it on a busa:
#1. Part of what makes that set up work so well is how heavy the cruiser is.
#2. The VTX is a shaft driven bike. With the Busa I would worry about the chain popping the tire if you make too big of a right hand turn.
When you make a left hand turn that tire rolls to the right and vice versa when you make right hand turns. The chain clearance would worry me to death the entire time I was riding causing me to not focus as much as I should be on other aspects of riding suck as cagers and my body position. I will be checking up on this thread from time to time to see how you like it for this bike but I am inclined to agree with everyone else that this not the best decision for this type of bike. I hope you can prove me wrong on that. Good luck buddy!!!
lil charlie
Registered
Simple mathematics.... MT = $150 for what...call it 7000 miles. CT can be had for $75 and last 30,000 miles easy. If all he is doing is straight slab riding then I dont see an issue with it. I think you should just get a cruiser instead of a busa but hey..the man wants a Busa so why not??? The last CT I put on my cruiser cost me $59 delivered to my door and another $10 to have it mounted. That tire was speed rated for over 100 miles per hour (if I remember right) and had water shedding capabilities built into the tread.
jphilipson
Registered
Thanks for the feedback Lil charlie. I understand what you are saying about the tire flex. However, the flex in the tire happens near the ground, not up where the chain is. So far nothing has touched the tire. And it's not like if the chain touches it once it's gonna pop, I've seen tires completely chewed by chains that still hold air lol.
Like I said earlier - I'm still getting used to it, and I'm not in any way selling this as the "right" thing to do. After reading so many posts like this, I decided to do it to see for myself. If it doesn't work out on this bike I will go back to a m/c tire.
I clicked on both of those Darkside links above , and the bikes on those sites were over 90% cruisers.
I am not surprised.
And I noticed that FJR guy is not wearing gloves , another crazy choice when it comes to riding at any speed.
There are a lot of Goldwing 1800, ST and FJR riders using car tires. I know at least 15 bikes using them. It's not for everyone but it works. It's a choice.
vailes3705
Registered
Well, I went and joined the Darkside
Fitted a Bridgestone Potenza G 19 Grid, 205/50zr17 on the rear yesterday. Fitting it on the bike was close. The mounted tire was about 8 inches wide, and barely clears the chain (less than a 1/2 inch - more like an 8th). Took it for a test ride, and no evidence that the chain is ever touching so far.
First impression: It's going to take some getting used to, but not giving up. Requires a lot of input, and you can definitely feel the additional unsprung weight on the rear with the lighter bike. Turning is still odd, requires a bit more pressure to initiate a turn and you have to keep more pressure through the turn. The turn-in is weird at the point where the tire starts lifting because it falls in real quick after a period of needing more input. I need to play with pressure a bit more. I started at 30 and dropped down to 28 (FJR guys usually run 30 on the heavier bike) - felt a little better. I think on this bike I can probably drop another lbs or two.
Overall grip - I did some tight turns and no sign of slipping at all. It actually seemed like it was faster through really tight slow turns. Note: that the car tire doesn't have less contact patch even in the tightest turns, it just has a wider contact patch when going straight. Here's a good video showing that -on the Darkside - car tire on a motorcycle - contact patch - YouTube[/url].
Why? Because I do a lot of long distance riding, and the rear tire every 7k is starting to get old. A lot of other folks in the long distance riding community have been running car tires for years with no problems, typically on FJR's, Honda ST's, Goldwings and other sport touring/touring bikes.
I'll update when I get a bit more saddle time.
Let the bashing begin!
You need to give that poor baby a bath!!!
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I wonder why Suzuki never thought of that?
I can't envision any motorcycle manufacturer recommending "that" since they are in the business of selling motorcycle tires too. Good thing people have a choice, kinda like that "free will" thing.
Audiomaker
Registered
I wish I could agree with that, but riding through Texas a few months ago I got caught in a few flash thunderstorms and almost lost the bike a couple times due to hydroplaning (at fairly low speeds I might add).
Just my personal experience.
P.S. I actually Googled that "No Points" vid' in this thread and watched the movie....ugh.
Sean
jphilipson
Registered
Hopefully from all that money you save from buying tires you will buy some soap and a bucket
Knock it all you want - but that's pure Black Rock desert dirt
Just don't ask how it got so dirty here ..
lankeeyankee
Banned
How much did you mill off the bead in order for it to seat? I belive the 15" vmax rim was around .0090
I did the same but it was on a VMAX that was mainly used for the dragstrip and main street cruises..
The handling was horrible and you had to ride it like a dragbike. The traction (take off was worse then a MC tire)
Good luck just hope you dont have to make a quick manuever around a car in a emergency situation, this is when you will find disaster
There is a reason motorcycle tires are designed the way they are.
I thought maybe a car seat on my Busa cause I am tired of my azz getting sore after 400 miles..
I did the same but it was on a VMAX that was mainly used for the dragstrip and main street cruises..
The handling was horrible and you had to ride it like a dragbike. The traction (take off was worse then a MC tire)
Good luck just hope you dont have to make a quick manuever around a car in a emergency situation, this is when you will find disaster
There is a reason motorcycle tires are designed the way they are.
I thought maybe a car seat on my Busa cause I am tired of my azz getting sore after 400 miles..
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